Modern Day Cinderella
by TheOriginOfBliss
Summary: Amanda Le Damay's life is a fairy tale. Literally. When she becomes a real-life Cinderella, she is expecting to live through a horrid nightmare. But when her own prince charming shows up - and we're talking Matt Bellamy, frontman of Muse - she figures out that, in the end... this might be a very nice story after all.
1. Chapter 1

I was starting to hate more and more Erica's decision to have come to this bloody festival, or whatever it was. First of all, because it was crowded with weird people and annoyingly loud five-years old kids, but also because it was probably a hundred degrees outside, and I was starting to sweat and to feel sticky and gross.

On the other hand, Erica seemed to thoroughly enjoy every second of it. She didn't even seem to notice how annoyed I was, she'd just grab my hand and drag me into whatever shop or booth she wanted to check out. That was exactly what I hated the most about my best friend: wherever I saw problems, she saw fun. She was much more outgoing and friendly than me, too.

"Ohh! This one!" she squealed next to me as I felt myself get grabbed by the hand and then dragged into some vintage, dusty store for the thousandth time today. Once we were inside, she let go of me and started checking out a stack of antique dresses. I just stood in the door frame and looked around me.

It was definitely a very, very old building. The wooden floor had so many cracks that it was almost completely torn apart. The shelves were so dusty and rotten that I suddenly wondered how in the world Erica had plucked up enough courage to actually touch the merch that was resting on them. The ceiling was painted a faint brown and decorated with stars, which almost made me smile. How much bad taste does it take to decorate a ceiling in such way?

The whole shop was filled with antique bookcases (bookcases that had undoubtedly been picked up on the street, given their appearance), and the merch messily rested on their dilapidated shelves. Silk scarves of colors varying from dark red to light brown were hanging from the tacky ceiling in certain corners of the room and other scarves were tied up to the bookcases.

"Are you coming in or are you going out?"

I blinked at the sound of the high-pitched voice who had pronounced this sentence, wondering who was its owner. It only took me seconds before I found out.

To my left, a very old and wrinkled lady was sitting at a desk that was just as dilapidated as the rest of the furniture in the room. Her long, deep crimson velvet dress was so oversized that I couldn't even see her feet, and her impressively long white hair was falling down her shoulders and back, and as she got up on her feet (pulling her dress up and thus revealing a pair of black leather boots) I noticed that the ends of her hair were curled up in tiny ringlets.

"I beg your pardon?", I finally answered.

"I said, young lady, are you coming in or are you going out?" she repeated, frustration noticeable in her voice.

"Why do I absolutely need to do either of them?" I answered with an equally frustrated tone. "I'm waiting for my friend."

"Then wait inside, I don't like it when the door stays open", she muttered as she shut the door.

"Why?" I questioned.

"Because those fools outside are selling ice cream and candyfloss, and it attracts the wasps. And then the wasps nest into my shop instead of someone else's"

_I'm sure they do, given the sullen character you both have..._

"I'm sorry, what?", she said as she turned around.

"I didn't say anything."

"Yes, you did, you just insulted me!", she snapped. "Now, young lady, if I were you, I wouldn't say that, given the fact that you have a sullen personality yourself!"

_Did she just... read my mind?_

"I sure did", she said. A faint smile filled her thin lips as she watched my jaw drop in amazement.

"How did you do it? That only happens in... in... in the movies! And in stories!"

"Why don't you just sit down and cut the questions?" she muttered.

She pulled a second dusty wooden chair from under her desk, obviously for me to sit down. After one minute of looking at the chair and thinking to myself that this might be the thickest layer of dust I've seen in my life, I mustered enough courage to sweep the stuff with the back of my hand and sit down.

"Does it bother you if your friend hears what I have to say?" she asked.

"Erica's my best friend." I stated. Given the look the old lady threw my way, I felt the need to add: "I don't hide anything from my best friend."

I lifted my head and noticed Erica standing a couple of meters across from us, questioning me with her light green eyes. "I think she's got a story to tell us", I mouthed. Erica immediately understood and came over to listen.

The old lady was suddenly concentrated on the task of mixing and then placing a pack of cards into three different stacks. She then raised her head and asked: "Do I remind you of some fairy tale character?"

_What kind of question is that?_

"An important one", she answered.

Erica shot me a confused look, not understanding what that statement was for, but I didn't take time to explain. I just tried to answer: "I don't know... an old stepmother?"

Instead of being offended, the old lady chuckled. "No, silly... look at my dress. Which fairy tale character wore black leather boots and a crimson dress... and a hood too, while we're at it?"

"Red Riding Hood?" Erica questioned from behind me.

The old lady nodded. "Now, you're going to ask me: why did I question you about that?"

"Why?" me and Erica asked at the same time.

"Because it was an introduction to what I have to say. You, young lady... your name is Amanda Le Damay, isn't it? You were born in France... grew up here in England since you were four years old... and now you are twenty-one, aren't you?"

All I could do was stare at her. How does she know? Did she read my mind to know all of this? Well, she obviously went a little too far now... I'm not comfortable knowing that a stranger like her reads my mind and knows everything about me. She raised an eyebrow, still waiting for an answer. "How do you know all that?" I finally managed.

"The prophecy." she simply said. Before I could ask her what the hell that was, she kept speaking: "If I look like Red Riding Hood, that is because that's who I am. A long time ago, five witches cast five spells on five families. The spells said that, family after family, one member of each family would have to become a fairy tale character and manage to bring the fairy tale to a happy ending.

"The spell makes you become a certain fairy tale character, but that doesn't mean you always have to follow the story of that precise character. Your story can be a mix like it can be the original story. And sometimes, your story can even be improvised. You never know. But you can have three clues: every clue is a card from each of these three stacks", she said as she motioned to the cards she had been holding minutes before. "Pick a card", she then added as she pointed to the first stack.

I reached out and picked a card, not sure what to do. My hand was shaking and I was scared. All of this was unbelievable. It couldn't be real.

"Read what's on the card", the old lady said.

I looked down at the card, and read aloud the words written on it in black ink: "An evil woman lives at the other end of town. Her daughters are horrid and so is she. Soon, your stepmother she is going to be."

"Just like in Cinderella", Erica murmured. "But I don't see how your dad could marry such a woman. Ever since your mom died, when you were eight, he said he'll never marry again, let alone marry with a horrid woman."

"It will happen, sadly", the old woman said. "If the card says so, it will happen. Pick a second."

I picked a second card and, this time, I read it immediately:

"The stepsisters will hate you very much. They'll try to stop you from succeeding. Stay away from them as much as you can!"

The old lady immediately handed me the third stack, and I picked a card.

"One beautiful man you've already heard about will soon become the one you cannot live without. But be careful with everything you do, because the stepsisters will want to have him too!"

"Cinderella, without any doubt", the old lady said. "If you want this story to end, you will have to find the prince the cards have been talking about and make him yours, or you'll be miserable for the rest of your life."

"Wait", I suddenly said. "Is this real? It doesn't seem real. Look, don't get me wrong, but... I don't believe in spells, or in magic, or in fairy tales... I don't know how you managed to find out so much about me, but..."

"I've told you, girl. The Prophecy." the old lady said, cutting me off. "Once you finish your story, you will receive a message telling you about when and where the next fairy tale character will appear, so you can help them out. Luckily for you, you are of the fifth family that the spell was cast upon. That means when you finish your tale, the spell will go away."

"Okay, but this whole thing just can't happen." I stated, now getting up from my chair.

The old lady stayed seated and muttered a "You will see it by yourself."

I chuckled in return. "I'd really like to thank you for the story and all, but this really can't happen and I refuse to believe it. Have a very nice day."

I swiftly turned around and walked out the door, Erica following me from very close. We finally got outside and I was overly relieved to breathe in fresh air instead of dust.

"Amanda... that woman didn't look like she was joking."

I turned around and looked at my best friend. "Are you kidding? Do you really believe in what she said?"

Erica raised her shoulders in answer. "All I know is, I saw the look she had in her eyes, and she did not look like she was kidding."

"Yeah, right! And I am Cinderella, I will lose one of my shoes and whatever Prince Charming is coming my way will pick it up and then we'll marry!" I huffed in annoyance.

"Well... fine" Erica said. "Do you want to keep checking out the festival?"

I sighed. "Erica... I really wanna go home. Don't get me wrong but... I'd love to keep hanging out with you, I'm just tired..."

Erica smiled. "That's alright. You can go home. I'll just check out the rest by myself."

"Thank you. See you soon", I said as I turned around and headed for the bus station.

Happily, the bus was already there. I climbed in and crashed on a chair, ignoring the spiteful look I got from an old woman across from me. The bus started and I closed my eyes, only opening them when I got home.

I inserted the key into the lock, opened the door, closed it, kicked off my shoes, jumped on my sofa and instantly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

It was around midnight when I finally woke up. I wasn't sure around what time I had gotten home-it must have been around two o'clock because the sun was still up and it was still hot outside. I was still in my tank top and jeans and I even had my sandals on and my hands were hanging on to my purse. I sat down on my sofa and touched my forehead on the area where a headache was starting to form, and realised that my hair was a mess. I slowly kicked off my high-heeled sandals and threw my purse on the ground, then got up and walked to the bathroom.

As I slowly started taking my clothes off and brushing my hair, I silently thanked God for the fact that I had my own flat and wasn't living with my parents anymore, otherwise they would've very much questioned the state I was in right now. I painted and regularly exposed my work in galleries, and there were always lots of buyers, which got me enough money to pay myself a flat in London.

I put my hairbrush back on the sink's edge and stepped into my shower, turning the hot water on. I let the water flow everywhere on my hair, face and body when, suddenly, I remembered about the old lady and her strange story.

_Woah, wait a minute. That was real wasn't it?_

I suddenly brought my left hand to my mouth and started chewing on my nails as I remembered the whole encounter. Maybe I've been dreaming? It could be possible. It was really, really hot and sunny outside, I could've just gotten dizzy because of the heat and come home and knocked myself out and fell on my couch and dreamed about the whole thing... that would also explain the headache, wouldn't it?

I turned the water off and grabbed my towel, wrapping myself inside the soft fabric. I bent down and picked down my clothes, throwing them into the washing machine. I then walked into my living room and picked up my sandals, which I carelessly threw in front of my entrance door, then came back to pick up my purse.

That's when I noticed the very thick layer of dust in which it was covered.

I suddenly froze, staring at my purse. How was that possible? Hadn't I dreamt? It seemed that no. What other place could all this dust come from? I opened a window and blew the dust away from my purse before throwing it on my sofa.

I decided to forget about it and carelessly walked into my room, picking up the first piece of clothing that I found, which happened to be a large Muse t-shirt, and threw it on. I ran my fingers through my damp, brown hair before deciding that I'll let it dry naturally. I crawled into my bed and pulled the covers over my head, falling asleep regardless the hours of slumber I had gotten at my arrival home.

I woke up to the intro of Citizen Erased, which blasted very loudly out of my cellphone. I had a lot of difficulty finding my phone in my still-sleepy state, but when I finally got a hold of it and stopped the song, I could finally see the time.

6:00 AM.

Dammit. I had forgotten to turn off my alarm, that I had set due to yesterday's appointment at the Gallery.

I groaned and got out of bed, knowing that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. I turned off my phone and threw it on my desk.

Finding the bathroom door had never been this difficult in my entire life. I knocked my head twice on the wall before finally being able to open the door and throw some ice cold water on my face to wake myself up. When I finally managed to open my eyes and become fully aware of my surroundings, I walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out two slices of bread and some butter.

I inserted the bread into the toaster and pulled the button down, then proceeding to search the jar of raspberry jam into my cupboard. A small pout appeared on my face when I realised that I didn't have any more raspberry jam, and had to satisfy myself with strawberry.

I took the bread slices from the toaster, spread butter and jam on them, threw them on a plate and sat down on one of my stools at my kitchen counter, looking out the open window.

Suddenly, my view was blocked by a dozen little birds who sat down on the wooden edge of my window. I frowned and tried chasing them away, a hundred percent sure that they'd end up crapping on the window frame. They flew away but came back only seconds afterward, which made me even more pissed off.

"Shoo!" I yelled, waving my hands towards them in anger. Once they disappeared again, I shut the window to make sure they wouldn't be able to come back.

Where did they come from, anyway? I've never seen that kind of bird before, not in the neighborhood, not anywhere in London. They were a shade of light blue, with deep orange legs and a matching beak.

I finished my breakfast and dumped the plate in the kitchen sink, not even bothering to wash it. After deciding I didn't have anything important to do today, I walked to the bathroom and got in the shower, determined to take some time taking care of myself.

After over two hours of washing, brushing and braiding hair, plucking, and hydrating, I walked to my room and turned on my phone. I had one missed call, and the number was Erica's. I dialed it and pressed call, waiting for her to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's me", I said. "You called me didn't you?"

"Hey! Yeah, I did. I've got something that might interest you", she said. I was pretty sure she was smiling right now, so I urged her to carry on saying what she had to say.

"Okay, so this friend of mine says that her boyfriend is hosting a party next Saturday. She invited me and asked me to spread the word and make sure more people are coming. Look, this could be a normal party and all but..." she breathed in very loudly at this point "... rumor has it that Muse are going to be there too, being friends of the guy who's hosting." She finished her sentence with a squeal.

"Oh my god", I shrieked. "So we could be in the same party as our favorite band!?"

"Yeah! Just imagine that!" she said. I could almost see her dancing around the room in ecstasy.

"Woah, we've gotta go clothes shopping! If Matt Bellamy sees me at a party, he better see me looking good!" I said as I opened my wardrobe and realised I didn't have any dresses anymore, having given them to charity last year thinking to myself that I'd buy others.

"Shame I can't hook up with any of them because of George!" she said.

"Are you coming with him?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. He's my boyfriend after all." she made it sound like a duty right now, but I knew that she loved George very much. They had been together for three years.

"So, uh, Sunday?" I asked, just to make sure. "That means in exactly a week, given the fact that it's Sunday today..."

"So we have a whole week to go dress shopping! In fact, we might start today!"

"Wait, I can't today... I'm seeing my dad", I said.

"Oh", Erica sighed into the phone. "Are you up to something, tomorrow?"

"Nope. We're going out dress shopping"

"Message received then", Erica said with a laugh. "Bye."

"Bye."

Once the phone was hung up, I allowed myself five minutes of fangirling. Yes, it was only a rumor, but it could still be possible! I could find myself in the same room as them!

After I calmed down, I grabbed an olive green button-up shirt and a knee-length white skirt and slipped them on along with a pair of white flats. I kept my hair braided and walked to the living room, where I picked up my handbag.

I had to wait a couple of minutes for the bus. A lot of time later, I had finally arrived at my dad's house.

After mom died, when I was eight years old, my dad refused to either marry again or live in our old house. He bought a Victorian style house at the other end of town and we lived there until I turned nineteen and had enough money to buy myself a flat in London, near the art galleries where I exposed my work. He had been sad at first, but then he had accepted the fact that we lived too far away and I needed some space for myself, and he just let me go after he made me promise I'll visit him as often as I can.

I had told him many times that he should reconsider marrying. Sometimes, he didn't answer and pretended he hadn't heard, which is absurd given the fact that my dad can hear like a bat. Other times, he got angry at me, saying that I shouldn't take care of that. That he won't ever love a woman the way he loved Francine, my mother, and that he was alright by himself.

I climbed the three steps of his house and rang the bell. As soon as my dad opened the door, he pulled me into a hug.

"Come in", he said. I noticed that he was a little nervous and I couldn't understand why until he brought me to the living room.

A tall woman was standing there, surrounded by two girls about my age.


	3. Chapter 3

**Before beginning the new chapter... I'd like to explain a couple of things. For those of you wondering about it, Amanda's phone is a Nokia 5510. It featured a full QWERTY keyboard and could store up to 64mb of music. It came out in 2001, the year in which my story takes place. I tried to follow the actual history of cell phones in order to make this realistic :) Well, okay, just wanted to make sure everyone's with me.**

My jaw almost dropped. Who were these women? What did they have to do with my dad?

"Every time you came here to visit me", my dad said, "you would talk to me about how I should reconsider marrying. And I've finally come to the decision that I should do it." He finished his sentence by taking the hand of the eldest woman in his. "I'd like to introduce to you Carmen and her daughters, Kathy and Jane."

I just looked him straight in the eye as my brain tried processing the information. How did this happen so suddenly? I thought he didn't want to remarry, that it was ridiculous, that he couldn't love again.

I finally had enough courage to take a step further and shake the hand of what I could call my stepmother, but she pulled me into an embrace instead, kissing me on both cheeks.

"Oh, I am so happy to meet you!" she said as I came to the realisation that her voice was incredibly high-pitched and quite annoying. "John talks about his little girl, the artist, all the time!"

She was very tall, taller than me (well, in fact, everyone is taller than me) and had a white button-up shirt and black skirt on, with black flats. Her light blonde hair was held up in a bun. She smiled and disappeared to the kitchen, leaving me all alone with her two daughters.

They were both blonde, just like her, and had the same green eyes and thin lips. Only, Kathy had her hair in a ponytail and Jane had added bright orange strands to hers.

After about five minutes of looking at each other without saying a word, I finally mustered enough courage to talk.

"So are you living here ?" I inquired.

"Oh, yes" Jane answered. "We still have a few things to bring over, but we sleep here at night. We moved in yesterday. We've got the other two rooms upstairs; your dad wouldn't let us take yours."

I suddenly thought about my room upstairs, painted in crimson and walls plastered with posters of The Smiths and The Beatles and I felt embarrassed in case they've seen it and thought I was some kind of obsessive fangirl.

"I see", I murmured. "And are you going to school in London or something?"

"We're going to." It was Kathy who spoke this time. "We still got a couple of years to go. So... you're an artist, right?"

"Oh, yeah" I laughed. "I paint, and sometimes I even draw. Then I expose my work in Galleries in London and, you know... people buy whatever they like. And thankfully there are enough customers. I sometimes work at a record store in London for extra money, but I take a break from it during the summer, to work harder on my art."

"Oh, it must be amazing, living the life of an artist" Kathy said, but her tone was a little sarcastic, like she thought I was ridiculous to work on things such as art.

"What do you study?" I asked after a few moments.

"Literature", Jane simply answered.

"And Kathy?" I asked.

"Literature, too" Kathy said, looking at me like it was obvious. "But Jane wants to become a teacher while I'd rather write books."

There was nothing more to say and they both looked like they didn't want to add anything. In fact, they had looked a little annoyed with me the whole time, like I was pissing them off with my questions and my life and even my face, given their glances. Suddenly feeling awkward and unwanted (and that, in MY dad's house) I got up and went to the kitchen to join my father.

Once I came in, Carmen smiled at me and immediately left the kitchen. I didn't even have time to smile back; she had been that quick in leaving. I decided to use her absence to my advantage.

"Dad?" I hesitantly spoke.

"Yes, sweetie."

"I thought you didn't want to", I said. I didn't even need to mention what.

My dad turned around and looked me in the eye. "But I thought that you did."

"Yes, but this caught me by surprise" I said. "I wasn't expecting to come here one day and find a woman and her daughters and learn nonchalantly from you that you were remarrying... you've been refusing to remarry for thirteen years. Why did you change your mind so suddenly?"

My dad just shrugged. Even he didn't seem to know. He looked a little lost, too.

"When did you two meet?" I suddenly asked, out of the blue.

"A month ago", he murmured.

"That's a short time."

"She was just as lonely as me, and kind, and beautiful, and I thought I'd give it a shot."

"Still a pretty short time", I said.

"Babe, look", my dad suddenly said, raising his voice a little bit. "You've been asking for it for a long time, and now that I finally decide to remarry... you get pissed off."

"I'm not pissed off" I simply said.

"Let me finish", he shot. "Now that I finally decide to do what you asked me to do for years, you ask me why I did it. Please, sort your head out."

"I'm not pissed off", I repeated. "I'm just confused. I'm not judging you, either. It just happened quickly, very, very quickly. That's all. In fact, I'm happy that you finally decided to put an end to all this loneliness of yours."

I turned around and walked towards the kitchen door, not wanting to continue what was quickly going to become a fight between me and my dad.

"Wait, Amanda" he spoke behind me.

"Yeah?" I expectantly said, waiting for him to apologize for raising his voice.

"Could you please bring this tea tray to the living room?"

I had been sitting next to my dad on the sofa across from the armchairs where Carmen and her daughters sat for now one hour and a half. I had finished my second cup of tea long ago, and my feet were starting to feel numb. Besides, I was tired of the questions that were sent my way and the reaction I got every time I gave an answer.

"What kind of artist are you?"

"I paint and draw using a lot of styles, I don't really know how to define my work..."

Look of disgust.

"Do you make a lot of money?"

"Well, yeah... for an artist..."

Look of genuine annoyance.

"Do you live in a flat or a house in London?"

"Oh, it's just a flat... I couldn't really afford a house..."

You're-such-a-loser look.

Suddenly, my dad shoved his hand into his pocket, taking out a pack of cigarettes and opening it.

"Dammit", he whispered.

"What's wrong, honey?" Carmen's voice was now reduced to a high-pitched purr which almost made my ears bleed.

"No more cigarettes", my dad simply answered. "I need to go out an get a new pack. It'll only take ten minutes or so."

And with that, he simply jumped into his shoes and got out, leaving me face to face with Carmen, Jane and Kathy.

I smiled at them, visibly uncomfortable. Suddenly, I knew what to do in order to ease my nerves a little bit. I gently laid down the teacup I had been fiddling with for the past hour and got up, finally calming down the numbness in my legs.

"Excuse me" I said. "I need to go to my room."

And with that, I was gone as well.


	4. Chapter 4

I mounted the stairs as fast as I could and, once I was in my old room, I just threw myself into this newly opened sanctuary and locked the door, feeling safe and relieved.

Nothing had changed. The walls were still crimson, just like I had painted them. I still remember the day I painted those walls... I was so sure my room would look irresistible, but it just ended up looking too flashy. I had begged my father for new paint, but he simply answered that I had "made my choice" and that he had "paid a lot for that paint and won't allow it to go to waste". I had finally decided to solve the color problem by plastering the walls with posters of my favorite bands and thus covering every visible inch of crimson red.

I opened my large window and let the fresh air come in. Then, I opened my closet, not sure about what was still in there.

I was greeted by the smell of a very old perfume of mine that I had forgotten about. A couple of old shirts and shorts and jeans were still there, but what mostly attracted my attention was a small dress, carefully attached to a hanger in a far corner of my closet. I reached for it and took it out. It was completely white and strapless. The top was plain, but the skirt was puffy and splattered here and there with silver glitter.

I was really confused. I didn't remember ever seeing this dress, let alone buying it. I undressed and put it on, realising that it fit perfectly. I stepped in front of my old mirror and looked at the dress. It stopped right above my knees, and the top was incredibly well-tailored, perfectly hugging the top of my hips and bringing out my breasts without making me look like a slut. I looked amazing wearing it and I found myself not wanting to take it off.

I decided I'll take it home. Still wearing the dress, I walked towards the closet and wanted to close the door, when I saw a faint glow in the same corner where I had found the dress. I bent down and picked up the object in question, which was a pair of matching high-heels.

I closed the door and put the shoes down on the floor, taking a look at them. They were splattered with the same silver glitter, on the same white background. I stepped into them and once more took a look at myself in the mirror.

Now I could officially declare that I wasn't only beautiful - I was simply breathtaking. I had spent the last nine years of my life looking at myself in the mirror and telling myself I was too short, too curvy, that my hair and my eyes were too brown and that the tip of my nose was too round. But right now, all these complexes disappeared. For the very first time in my life, I thought of myself as beautiful.

Suddenly, a distant chirping snatched me out of my daydream and I looked towards my window to find standing there the same birds that I had seen this morning at my flat's window, and everything clicked into my head.

The friendly animals. The stepmother. The stepsisters. The distant dad. The breathtaking dress and shoes.

The old lady was right.

Once I put my initial clothes back on, I ran down the stairs, dress and shoes in my hands. I went to see my dad, who had come back, asking him if he had a large plastic bag. He handed me one, then looked at my latest treasure.

"Where did this come from?" he asked, genuine confusion on his face. "I've never seen it in my entire life."

"Oh, I... I bought it a long time ago. It was on sale. And I... forgot it here", I lied.

"How could you forget about such a pretty dress?" he asked, his eyes filled with doubt.

"I don't know, but I came to take it back" I said, trying to hide my nervousness. "Dad, thanks for the tea. I need to get going now."

"Really? So soon?" he asked. "You've only been here for what, two hours?"

"Yeah... I need to finish working on something."

"What's going on?" Carmen said behind my back. "Leaving already?"

"She's got work to do" my dad explained.

"Oh", she simply said, trying to sound regretful despite the look of pure hate she shot me.

"Thank you both for a wonderful... morning" I said with a smile. "And you", I added, this time directing my words to Jane and Kathy.

"Come back soon", my dad said as he kissed my forehead.

"I will."

Then I jumped into the bus. But I didn't get out to take my other usual bus.

I took a bus for the street where the festival had been the day before.

I walked down the street, looking at the shops and trying to remember them. The truth is, I had been so tired and grumpy the day before that I had automatically erased every single memory about the day that was still hanging on to my mind. I tend to do that sometimes. I hate something with so much passion that I end up ditching it without any regrets.

But now I had regrets. I should have paid more attention. I tried to calm myself down and remember the details about the day before.

It was an old shop. An antiques shop. Dusty. Decorated with a lot of bad taste. And it smelled like... what did it smell like around there?

All of a sudden, the smell of cotton candy and chocolate reached my nose and I remember the old lady ranting about the wasps and how they're attracted to the smell of sweets...

I looked to the left and saw the sweets shop. And a little farther down the street, a library that I now remembered very vividly. That was the building adjoining the antiques shop.

But what I saw afterwards made me stop in my tracks.

In between the Candy Shop and the library, there was nothing.

Nothing but thin air. The antiques shop was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

The window was completely open, letting the compelling summertime breeze and sun warmth reach my body. I could hear cars honking and passing my building in the distance, and a couple of happy voices greeting each other. The atmosphere was so great, and this was actually one of the very rare sunny days in London. I could've gone outside shopping or walking.

But I was curled up on my bed dressed in nothing but an oversized hoodie, eyes wide open, thinking about... just what the hell was happening to me!?

The worst part about this was that I knew where this was going. The old lady had warned me and I had laughed my ass off at her and decided I won't give a damn about her stupid story. Because, let's face it, the whole thing was stupid. Who the hell believes in these kinds of things?

In the distance, I heard a key turn into my door's lock and I jumped off my bed in panic. Now what? Was someone breaking into my house? I carefully got out of my room and looked at the door. It opened, leaving place to a very worried Erica.

"What the hell?" I asked, suddenly remembering I had given her my spare key.

"I called ten times. You didn't answer. Ten times means I need to worry, so I worried and came here", she quickly explained.

Oh. Well, now, I did leave my cellphone turned off, didn't I.

She closed the door and I went back to my room, followed by her.

"So what's happening? Had a fight with your dad?"

"Almost", I murmured.

She looked at me, silently urging me to go on.

"He wants to remarry, and he only met her one month ago! ONE!", I almost yelled. "And she's annoying, and so are her two stupid daughters!"

"Shit", Erica muttered. "And doesn't that get you thinking?"

"It does!" I said. "But this gets me thinking even more..."

I pulled out my beautiful white dress out of my closet and showed it to Erica, who just opened her mouth very widely and flapped her arms about in excitement.

"Oh my god! This is the prettiest dress I've ever seen! Where does it come from?"

"I took a look at my old closet. It was in there. I've never seen it before and..." I now pulled out the matching shoes "... it came with these. And they were just randomly sitting in my old closet."

"Oh my fucking... dear lord... god..." Erica gasped. "Shit, shit, shit! She was right!"

She suddenly stopped speaking and shot me a weird little smile.

"What?" I asked as I put the clothes back in the closet.

"You are so getting laid next Saturday", she simply said. "If that lady's truly right, this is going to be the party where you find prince charmiiiiiiiing", she quipped.

"Erica, that's not funny."

"Oh, are you shy?" she was laughing so hard and she looked so happy that I ended up letting go of my worries and laughing along.

In the end, I don't think I hate her for seeing fun wherever I see problems.

"C'mon", I said. "I'll take a shower and we'll get you a dress."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really" I said as I stepped into the bathroom. "I don't wanna carry on worrying about this whole Cinderella thing. Let's go out."

Hours later, I came home to my flat. I was totally spent. My feet and my legs hurt, and I could barely keep my eyes open.

I turned on a lamp, brushed my teeth and immediately jumped into a nightgown, ready to go to sleep.

Everything was going just fine.

Until I turned on the lights in my room and noticed how dusty and dirty it was, even though I had always kept it clean.


	6. Chapter 6

I cast one last glance at myself in my bedroom mirror before finally going. Erica was going to pick me up any minute now. I smoothed my beautiful dress and looked closely at my makeup to make sure everything was alright. I sighed and placed a loose curl of hair behind my ear.

Why was I so stressed out about tonight?

I was just one hundred percent sure something would happen. Something bad. All week long, I had cleaned my house every single day only to find every room covered in dust and dirt only hours after I had cleaned up. I was starting to seriously worry about this spell and the effects it had on my life. What if either Jane or Kathy ended up with the man that was designed to be with me? The old lady said I would be miserable for the rest of my life. I wished I had her help right now, but she had disappeared along with her antiques shop.

I was left on my own, and I didn't even know what to do... how was I supposed to know who my "prince" was? There's going to be much more than one guy in the room.

I tried to remember all I could, and I finally recalled that, on the card I had picked, it was written: "One beautiful man _you've already heard about_". That meant I already knew the guy.

_Good. Very good, Amanda. You have one clue. Now let's see if you make it out alive._

Suddenly, my cellphone vibrated and I snapped out of my thoughts to pick it up.

"I'm waiting downstairs". I didn't need to look at the number to understand that it was Erica.

I shoved my phone into the silver handbag I had bought to match my outfit and slowly descended the stairs after locking my door. I was trying to postpone our arrival at the party as much as I could. I could almost laugh at my initial reaction at this party. I just wanted to jump back in time and tell the excited Me who was fangirling around the whole apartment to cut it off.

I finally stepped out of the building and immediately saw my best friend's car. Erica was impatiently tapping her fingers on the dashboard and I could hear Hyper Music blasting out of the car speakers. I quickened my pace and finally opened the car door, making extremely sure my dress didn't get caught in anything while I sat down on the car seat.

"Oh, come on! We're gonna be late!" Erica protested.

I shut the car door without a word and she immediately started the engine.

"What's with the happy face?" Erica inquired after a moment. I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm. My face had nothing to do with happy right now.

"I'm fine" I muttered. "Just stressed out."

"Well, don't be" she said as she stopped at a red light. "You look amazing. You shouldn't stress out about anything."

I looked at my friend who was now smiling and I smiled back. "Thank you", I managed to say. "You look beautiful too."

Fact is, she did look beautiful. Very beautiful. Last Saturday, when we had gone dress shopping, she had bought a pretty vintage-styled turquoise dress that perfectly complimented her green eyes and red hair. The straps were tied behind her neck and it was knee-length. She had completed the look with an old pair of high-heeled green sandals, turquoise nail polish and dark blue eye makeup.

"Where's George?" I suddenly asked, remembering her boyfriend was supposed to come with her.

"Oh, we're picking him up in a second. His house is three blocks away right now", she said as she stopped for another red light.

"Oh", I said as she started the car again and finally parked in front of a very tall building. She took out her cellphone and texted him.

Less than two minutes later, George was sitting in the backseat and we were on the road again. I had hoped he was going to be much slower, a little bit like me. But George never took his time.

Erica and him started making small chat, but I wasn't listening anymore. I was staring out the window, thinking about all the things that could happen tonight. Anything could happen at this point. Jane and Kathy could show up. I grimaced at the thought. I won't happy about seeing them again.

Suddenly, Erica pulled out in front of a house and snapped her fingers in front of my eyes.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty" she whispered. "Rise and shine, we're here."

I opened the car door and got out, once again acting very careful with my dress.

I walked towards Erica as fast as my shoes would allow me to and grabbed her arm. "Don't you dare leave me" I hissed as I squeezed her arm in my hand. "Or else I'll die, that's for sure!"

She chuckled as she gently tried to brush off my hand, which was still very tightly clasped around her arm. When I finally let go, she patted my back and whispered a "You'll be fine".

Like I was expecting, the room was full with men. Men drinking beer, men chatting, men flirting with girls, and I didn't know ANY of them. I was so full of desperation that I didn't even notice Erica slipping away, and when I finally did notice her absence, I became so scared to get lost in the crowd that I just stayed where I was, in the middle of the door frame. I gently leaned against the wall and tried looking for red hair, which was the first thing I looked for when I wanted to find Erica, when someone walked past me, brushing against me a little bit.

I heard a voice next to me say, "You shouldn't stay in the door frame", so I turned my head around, but I was looking down.

"I know", I answered. "I'm just looking for someone and-"

My voice was cut short when I noticed the person's face. In fact, everything in me was cut short, including my breathing, my brain and my heart. Because the man that was standing in front of me had pitch-black hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes I've ever seen.

I had seen him before, and many times too. On posters, CD sleeves, and on TV. But nothing compared to seeing him in real life. Because seeing Matthew Bellamy in real life was similar to getting hit between the eyes.

Suddenly, I noticed that my chest was starting to hurt due to the lack of air, so I slowly inhaled and tried to remember just what was going on.

I was at a party. In the door frame. And I was told by Matthew Bellamy (_Matthew Bellamy!_) that I shouldn't stay there. And I had tried to answer but my words were cut short.

I looked at him again, trying to finish my sentence. But I didn't even remember what I was saying. In the end, I tried to casually make a diversion, and finally managed to speak.

"Sorry, I'll move over here", I said as I stepped into the room and aside, near a window.

"Oh, no, you don't have to move", he laughed. "I was just recommending you to do it, because a couple of jerks here could have told it to you in a much more... nasty way. You see what I mean?"

He was looking me in the eyes. How do you handle him looking you in the eyes? I think it's impossible. You can't.

_How the fuck do people speak to you without having their heart rate increased!?_

"I see", I finally managed to say. And then silence fell upon us. I was leaning against the wall and he was fiddling with his beer bottle. Suddenly, he leaned against the wall right next to me. He was so close that his right arm was touching my left arm and I his scent was _everywhere_ around me and my head was spinning and I was feeling like I could combust into flames and melt any second now.

Fact is, maybe I would've acted this way with _any _guy right now. Ever since I broke up with my boyfriend, almost two years ago, I had been scared to go out with guys. At the beginning, I tried. But then, the dates I was going on became more and more stressful, and in the end I understood that I was deliberately rejecting other guys of fear of getting hurt.

At the same time, though, I _wanted _to go out with someone. I craved it. But every time I went near a guy, especially a cute one like Matt, my heart started beating and demanding him while my brain bitched about getting hurt and reprimanded me. And every time, my brain ended up winning the battle.

"Are you here with someone?", Matt suddenly asked.

_Shit. I was so busy thinking that I almost forgot he's here._

"Yeah, my best friend Erica... but she disappeared."

"Oh. You're not here with your boyfriend or something?"

"I don't have a boyfriend", I said.

He turned around and looked at me like I was crazy. "You do not have a boyfriend?"

All I could manage to do was nod "No". My vocal cords were blocked due to him looking me in the eyes again.

"Wow", he said as he leaned back against the wall. "I was pretty damn sure you had one."

"Why?"

_Wow, I had managed to fucking speak._

"Well, because..." He turned around and looked at me again, this time scanning me from head to toe. I could hear my heart beat in my ears as I silently prayed the good lord that I still looked perfectly fine. "...Maybe because you're gorgeous, and I guess any guy would love be to be with you." he finally said, leaning back against the wall and taking a sip of beer.

_Somebody hold me. I am going to faint. No, I am going to melt. No, I am going to fangirl. No, not at all: I am going to die. No, I already died. I'm in Heaven now._

I was still trying to process what he had said and think of some kind of reply, when I heard two high-pitched voices that made me look up.

Jane and Kathy. Just like I had expected it to be.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! Before I start this chapter, just letting you know that on my profile, under my description, there's a little space where I usually write about the incoming chapters and stuff like that. I just thought you might wanna know (in case you don't know it yet). Okay, that's all. :)**

"Oh my god! I heard you're in a band!"

"You're famous?"

"You should totally tell us about it!"

Jane and Kathy had literally jumped Matt, assaulting him with questions and circling him like two wild animals would circle a prey. Fact is, he looked like a prey, too. His back hit the wall behind him the very moment where they approached him, and he was on tiptoe staring down at them with big, terrified eyes. I had taken a couple of steps back myself, not wanting to interfere.

Finally, Matt's fear of them cooled down a little and he reclaimed the same smoothness that he had been using with me seconds before. He slowly extended both his arms in front of him, and used his hands to gently push them away (one of his hands still clutching his beer bottle).

"Yes, I'm in a band. Why, you like my music?"

"Oh, not really, I don't know", Kathy blurted out. "We just heard that you're in a band. We thought it was cool."

"Yeah", Jane added, a large grin plastered on her face.

Matt raised his eyebrows, obviously a little annoyed. He didn't answer. He just kept staring at them, and they just kept grinning at him. Finally, Jane spoke up.

"You wanna dance?"

"Errr... I... I can't", Matt managed to say.

"Why not?" inquired Kathy.

"Because I... I'm with someone."

"Who would that be?" Jane looked around the room, searching for a random girl that could've been Matt's date or girlfriend.

I glanced at Matt, and noticed that he looked a little panicked. I guessed that he wasn't here with anyone; he had just said that so he could get Kathy and Jane off his hands, but now that they were asking him who the special girl was, he had no clue what to answer. After a couple of seconds, my intense stare made him look up at me. Our eyes met, and a glint filled his blue irises as his lips started forming a cocky smile. He suddenly walked over to me and snaked his arms around my waist, raising his chin and eyebrows in satisfaction while doing so.

"I'm with her."

At first, Jane and Kathy looked at me carelessly, but as they started recognizing me, their mouths slowly opened and their eyes shot me hateful looks. After a moment, Jane snapped out of her shock and faked a friendly smile.

"Ooh! Amanda! You didn't tell either of us that you were dating a musician!", she quipped.

I swallowed, having a lot of difficulty speaking because of Matt and his arms, which were still tightly clasped around my waist and hips (and God, he smelled so damn fine). I gulped once more, this time regaining my ability to speak.

"I, erm, omitted to tell you about it."

"How come?" Kathy immediately questioned.

"Ohhhh, leave her alone", Matt muttered behind me, then proceeding to gently push me towards the door. I obliged to his gesture, happy to get away from the crowded room and my sisters-in-law. Once we were outside and far enough from the house, Matt burst out laughing uncontrollably.

"Did you see their faces when I told them we were going out?", he finally managed so say after something like two minutes of laughter.

"Yeah", I answered with a shy smile.

He wiped the tears of laughter away from his eyes and smiled back at me. "Thank you for covering up my case. And I'm sorry I told them that we dated... I don't know if you're okay with that."

"Oh no, it's fine. I'll just be in a little trouble if they talk about it to my dad... but I can handle explaining it to him."

_I handled you touching me. That means I can handle my dad's questions, too._

"What do you mean, if they talk about it to your dad?"

"They're my stepsisters.", I quickly said. "They live with their mom at my dad's house."

"Woah", he muttered. "I can't help but wonder how the hell you can handle _them_."

I laughed quietly and kept silent. After a couple of minutes, Matt broke the silence again.

"So... Amanda. That's a pretty name."

_Good lord, please help me not to blush._

"Thank you", I said. I kept my eyes fixed on the pavement like I had just barely discovered it, unable to look Matt in the eyes.

"And a nice song, too", he added.

I looked up at him, a little confused.

_There's a song called 'Amanda'?_

"The, erm, Boston song... y'know the band, Boston?"

"I didn't really listen to their stuff. In fact, I think I've only listened to 'More than a Feeling' and... I think the song was called 'Rock and roll band'..." I quickly explained, trying not to sound incult and dumb. I knew Boston, but I didn't know them well enough to acknowledge the presence of a song called 'Amanda' which was apparently present in their discography. Plus, no one ever told me about it before.

"What "stuff" do you listen to, then?" Matt asked after a moment.

Ooops. I really needed to think about what I was saying now.

_Okay, Amanda. You are walking side by side with the frontman of your favorite band ever. Don't tell him that, or he might run away from you thinking you're some kind of obsessive fangirl who wants to rip his clothes off._

"A... a lot of bands, actually. I like a loooot of bands." I blurted out, realising how stupid I sounded only after I opened my mouth.

"Don't you have a favorite band? Just one?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Suddenly, it hit me that I could play it smoothly. One day or another, he'll have to find out that he's in my favorite band. Yes, that was the thing to do: I had to tell him, but I had to be smooth. Very smooth. I flashed him a smile.

"I'll make you guess it. Okay?" I said, suddenly sure of myself.

"Okay", he said. "So, erm... what's their music genre?"

"It's something in between... progressive rock, alternative rock... and space rock."

"Okay, that's not enough", he murmured. "What country are they from?"

"They're British", I said.

"Oh, I know! Your favorite band is Pink Floyd!", he said, pointing at me almost accusingly.

"Nope", I said, laughing at the adorable pout that he made after I gave him my answer. "I do like them, though."

"Uh... okay. How many albums did they make? How many band members are there in the band?", he questioned. "_When _did their albums come out?" he added.

"Two albums and three members", I said. "Well... one album came out in 1999. And the other one came out very recently... as a matter of fact, it came out less than three months ago. I'll give you a bonus information: before they were called what they're called right now... their band name was the Rocket Baby Dolls."

He looked at me, mirroring the smile that I had on my lips. He had guessed.

"You like my band?", he asked, suddenly sounding very shy and innocent.

"I just told you it's my favorite band, so yeah, I guess that I like your band."

I looked away, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the silence that was starting to settle. Matt started to fiddle with his beer bottle again. After a moment, I mustered enough courage to look at him and noticed that, this time, our roles had been switched: he was the one staring down at the pavement, and I was the one staring. Suddenly remembering how stressed out I felt earlier, when he was continuously gazing at me, I redirected my eyes towards the houses and the trees of the street.

"That is... amazing.", he finally managed to say.

I glanced at him, unsure of what his statement meant.

"Why?"

"Well, because... how can I say this..." he looked up at the sky, searching for the right words. "Because every time I meet girls who like Muse, they always end up cornering me and begging me to take their trousers off. And I don't like it. It makes me feel... uncomfortable. But _you_..."

He looked at me with a cocky smile and slid his hands into his pockets before continuing.

"...you talked to me like I was a normal person. That's a first. You didn't corner me, you didn't ask me for an autograph on your boobs or for a kiss... what bothers me with you, though, is that you look intimidated by me."

"That's because I am", I murmured almost without thinking.

"You shouldn't be. I should be."

I looked over at him, realising that he was blushing uncontrollably. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and placed his right arm in front of me to keep me away from walking further. He slowly hugged my hips with the same arm and used the other one to cup my face, while he gently dove in for what first looked like a kiss, but instead he placed his mouth near my right ear.

For a moment, he embraced me in complete silence, his fingers gently stroking my face while his other hand came to rest on my back. I couldn't see his face right now, but I was almost sure that he was pondering on what to say next. I wasn't sure of what to do or say myself. I let him hug me while I just awkwardly stood there, unable to move out of my face a lock of my own hair that had settled on my lips.

"_Everyone_ should be intimidated by your... beauty.", he finally whispered, the air coming out of his mouth and warming my face, almost making me melt.

He stood still, breathing deeply, his hands at the same place, his mouth near my neck. I ended up closing my eyes, losing every notion of time and space that I had. A mild summer breeze started to blow, and though it was warm it felt like a whip to my bare arms. Happily, it proved to be useful when it blew the loose strand of hair out of my face.

All of a sudden, a ball of stress formed into my throat as I felt his jeans rub against my bare leg. He had completely entered my personal bubble. Suddenly, I couldn't bear the feeling of him touching me anymore. Everything was too strong: his perfume, warmth and touch. I wasn't able to cope anymore. I clumsily stepped back, receiving a confused look from him when doing so. And from confused, his look turned to sad. If I wasn't able to bear his touch, I'll be even less able to bear his pain.

I simply blurted out "Sorry" and ran away.


	8. Chapter 8

Matt's P.O.V.

I stood there and watched her turn around and walk away as a chilly breeze whipped my face, washing over my shocked and confused features. I thought that she liked me. Why would she run away from me so suddenly? I wanted to speak, to tell her to stop and to come back, I wanted to run after her and ask her what's wrong, but a small part of me kept me away from doing it. Besides, she was already many blocks away. I turned around, deceived, and headed back to the house.

All the way back, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It confused and troubled me to the highest point. She had acted so friendly and open for the whole night and ran away so suddenly... besides, she didn't even give me her phone number or anything like that... how am I going to be able to find her again?

I sighed as I stepped back into the house, full of desperation. I noticed Dominic was sitting on a sofa talking to some other guys, so I immediately went to sit next to him. He watched me sit down, looking very carefully at my face. I tried to smile to reassure him; but that didn't fool Dom. He knew me better than anyone.

"Are you okay?", he asked, leaning in a little to make sure I was the only one hearing.

"Yeah, yeah" I answered, smiling again. "I'm fine."

I tried looking away, but I felt Dom's stare was still on me. After a while, realising I won't be turning around to face him, he urged me to get up from the sofa.

"Dom, I am fine", I said, trying to keep him away from pushing me outside and bombarding me with questions.

"You are not", he said as he got up, pulling me to my feet. "Don't you try kidding me", he added, shaking an accusing finger in front of my eyes.

I was shoved out of the door and in the front yard against my will, and then forced to speak by a very impatient Dominic.

"What happened?" he asked.

I simply shoved my hands into my jeans' pockets, refusing to speak or even to look him in the eye. Didn't I have the right to privacy? What if I did something embarrassing and didn't want to talk about it?

"I don't wanna talk about it", I said, voicing my thoughts.

"Well I wanna hear about it", Dom said. "Matt, I'm your best friend... or so I think. You can tell me about it and be sure no one's gonna find out. Besides, you look like someone just died. I'm supposed to worry about you."

I sighed, finally giving in. "I met this girl, Amanda, and we talked and she seemed to be really nice and all... but then she ran away."

Dom flashed a quick, understanding smile before patting my shoulder. "If that's how it is, don't you even bother about her. She's not worth it."

"Well thank you, genius", I said, getting a little bit mad. "Doesn't it cross your mind that I thought about it? But she was... different. I can't think about her as a girl that wasn't 'worth it'..."

"How was she?", he finally asked.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember every detail. "Really short... brown hair and eyes... curvy but still slim... and she wore a white dress. She was really cute..." I couldn't help but blush as I said those words. "Dom... she said that Muse is her favorite band..."

Dom raised his shoulders and eyebrows for a second, before letting them drop. "Why exactly did she run away?"

The question struck me like lightning. I suddenly realised that maybe it was my fault, too. I had been a little too forward. I had known her for less than one hour and yet I was inviting her to take a walk with me and sticking my mouth near her ear. "I... made a move on her", I finally blurted out, embarrassed.

Dom sighed in desperation. "Of course she ran away, then... genius."

"It's not entirely my fault!" I said, trying in vain to justify my actions. "She was really attractive, by the way! You don't go out looking that gorgeous and expecting guys will leave you alone!"

"Just because she was attractive didn't mean she was a slut who opens her legs to everyone", Dom hissed.

I shut my mouth and shoved my hands back in my pockets. I hadn't considered that. Normally, I would just hook up with girls. This was the very first time that a girl had ran away from me because I had made a move. But it's not like I was expecting her to have sex with me... I was just showing my interest. Nevertheless, I had to give in to the truth that I had been too forward.

"I'm going back inside", I suddenly muttered as I walked back towards the house, Dom following me closely.

I stepped into the house when, suddenly, something small and white caught my eye. I stopped to look and see what it was, which caused Dom to bump into me. Ignoring his swear, I bent down and picked up the object. It was a small, white purse with silver glitter splattered all over it. I frowned, trying to think where I had seen it before. I carefully opened it, a small white tag welcoming me. I gently stuck the tag between two fingers and read the words that had been carefully sewn on it:

Amanda Le Damay.

I had to crush my lips together to keep away from smiling and genuinely screaming of joy. This. This was the one object that would lead me back to her and give me the chance to see her again, and even apologize for my actions.

"Dominic Howard", I said as I turned around and faced my best friend. "I fucking love you."

Dom looked at me, at the purse, then at me again.

"What the hell is wrong with you tonight?"

"This is her purse", I said. "Do you know what this means? I'll have to track her down and give it back to her. And that means I'll see her again!"

Dominic still didn't look convinced.

"You are one creepy stalker", he finally said.

"I know!", I laughed. "Nevermind this party. I'm going home and tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I am giving this back to her."

"You are going to freak that woman out", Dominic yelled. But I had already turned my back on him. I was heading home.

**_Later on_**

I had been sitting next to her purse for the last half an hour, not daring to open it and look at her stuff. No matter how much I told myself that I had to open it and look for her address, my hands refused to do the job. I honestly didn't know why. It just felt wrong. It's just as if I was afraid to find something I wasn't supposed to inside. But like what? A gun? I huffed in annoyance, my hands reaching for the purse and grabbing it, but leaving it closed. _Come on, Matthew. Open it and look for her address._ One of my fingers undid the clip, and I half opened it, hesitating for one more second. Then, the purse finally opened for real and I reached for what was inside with shaky hands.

The only things that I took out were a red Nokia cellphone, a wallet and a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses. I put the cellphone and the sunglasses back, not needing them. I slowly opened her wallet and smiled when I came across what I was searching for: in a small, transparent pocket right at the front, there was a white piece of cardboard with her full address written on it in blue ink. I put the wallet back in and closed the purse, letting out a sight of relief.

_**Later on**_

(The Next Morning)

I cast a glance at myself in the mirror and frowned at my image.

I had slipped on a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but the whole look was a little... it was too simple. I didn't look like a gentleman who was about to visit a lady and hand back her purse. I strided back to my bedroom, taking a look at the other clothes that I had, and took out a pair of black pants and a black shirt, putting them on instead. I went back to the mirror in the hallway: it still looked too simplistic. Back in my bedroom again, though, I found something that was perfect: an old pair of white straps that I had barely worn one or two times ever since I had bought them. I clipped them to my pants, then sliding them over my shoulders, and decided I won't be wearing any fancy shoes (since they always hurt my feet because I'm not used to them). I simply tied the laces of my black Converse sneakers, grabbed Amanda's purse, and went outside.

I knew exactly where she lived. I had gone to school there only a few years before. If I remembered well, a couple of blocks away from my old school, there was a portion that was entirely occupied by a construction site and they were building flats. I was entirely sure that's where she lived-in one of those new, freshly built flats.

And I wasn't wrong, either. I had barely walked past my old school when I saw four very tall residential buildings, all of them fresh-looking and nicely painted. I cast a quick glance inside of Amanda's wallet, to make sure I was on the right street-and I was. I checked the number, entered in the right building, and then checked the apartment number.

818.

I breathed in, ready to ring her bell, when a young woman holding the hand of a little boy opened the door for me. I smiled, quietly thanking her.

I took the elevator. Normally I would've taken the stairs, since they're healthier, but right now, I didn't want to risk climbing 8 levels and arriving at her door all sweaty and worked out. I stepped into the elevator and pressed the '8'.

It only took seconds before I was in front of her door. Suddenly, I didn't know what to say when she would open. Hello, remember me? I found this and thought it would be nice to bring it back to you... Naaaaah, that didn't sound like me. Hey. Is this yours? That didn't sound like me either. _Oh, fuck it!_ I reached out and knocked three times.

There was a moment of complete silence, and then the door opened only a bit. Two brown eyes and a small nose peeked out, looking at me from head to toe. Finally, the door opened fully, leaving place to a very confused Amanda. When she didn't say anything for five seconds straight, I mustered enough courage and spoke up.

"Hey... sorry about last night. You forgot this, by the way."

I handed her the small purse, and she smiled. "Thank you. I freaked out when I figured out I had forgotten it, last night." She was silent for another couple of seconds, then her eyes shot me a brief glance. "Wanna come in?", she asked, on a quiet, hesitant tone.

"Erm... well, if... if I'm not interrupting anything... yeah, sure", I blurted out.

She got out of the door frame to let me in, then shut the door. I figured out the flat must've have been freshly cleaned, because a very strong flowers smell was floating around. The flat had big windows which let a lot of the sunlight in (especially since her flat was on such a high level). On the wall to my left hung five large psychedelic posters, and on my right there was a cozy living room. One huge red sofa complete with a fluffy blanket and white pillows, and a TV surrounded by shelves that were overflowing with music CDs and DVDs filled the room. Heavy red curtains had been hung at the windows, but right now they were pulled to the sides, letting the summer breeze in.

Amanda led me to the kitchen and invited me to take place on one of the red bar stools. I sat down, not sure what to do next.

"I think my subconscious predicted that you'll be showing up", she suddenly said, "because for some reason I dropped more tea bags and water than usual in my teapot." She set two teacups on the counter, then brought over the said teapot. "I guess I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing."

As she poured the tea, I couldn't help but look at her and notice a few differences. Her hair was much fluffier, but I guessed that it was because it was morning and she had waken up only a while ago, and didn't brush it. In the morning sunlight and without any makeup on, she looked younger and more innocent too, and her large t-shirt made her look smaller as well.

"So, erm... you live alone?", I suddenly asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah", she said as she put down the teapot. "I moved in here almost a year ago to be closer to the art galleries where I expose my work, y'know, since dad lives at the other end of the city."

"Art galleries?" I said. "So are you the one who did the posters in the hallway?"

She nodded approvingly. "Do you like them?"

"Of course. They're amazing."

She seemed to be very pleased with my answer, given the beautiful smile that she gave me. "If you want, I can show you my other work too."

"I'd like that", I said.

There was another moment of silence, but this time it was her who spoke up.

"Did you guys already start making a new album?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "But we barely released 'Origin of Symmetry'!"

"Yeah, but I've never seen you as the type of musicians who lose their time!", she said, raising both her eyebrows.

I stopped laughing and smiled. "Not yet. But we plan on starting a new album soon."

She let out a quiet "oh" before setting down her teacup. "Do you still wanna see my other work?" Her tone had been a little hesitant, just as if she wasn't sure if I had already lost interest.

"Of course I do", I said with a smile. "You know", I added, "I don't give up on things that easily, Amanda. Better get used to it." I playfully winked at her as I slid off of my seat.

She laughed and got up from her seat herself. I smiled, but more to myself than to her. Given her laughter, I deduced that she hadn't caught the hidden meaning behind that warning.

_Oh, Amanda. That also means I'll chase you until you're mine._


	9. Chapter 9

Still Matt's P.O.V.

After she washed the teacups and teapot, Amanda led me to a portion of the flat that I hadn't noticed before. There was a small hallway, with framed artwork on the walls, and at the end of it there were two doors. Amanda reached out for the door handle on the left door and opened it.

"What's behind the other door?" I asked, out of curiosity.

"My bedroom", she simply answered. "But you don't wanna go in there. My stuff is scattered everywhere right now."

I stepped into the room and I was greeted by a very strong smell of paint and wood. I blinked several times, trying to adjust my eyes to the very bright sunshine that was coming in. When I could finally see, I didn't notice much in terms of room furniture: three easels, a big lamp... the window had the same red curtains as the one in the living room, and just like with the other window, the curtains had been pulled apart. The walls were white and the floor wasn't covered by any carpet.

But if this room was poor in terms of room furniture, it certainly was rich with paintings, artwork, sketches, prints, drawings, books... and everywhere you looked, glasses filled with charcoal, pencils, colored pencils, pens, paintbrushes and tubes of paint covered portions of the floor.

I slowly approached a large canvas, perhaps the largest in the room, which featured a half-done abstract painting. Amanda had done an incredible job with the colors, and the shapes that they were forming were in perfect harmony with one another. It was just pure magic.

I then moved on, my interest having been claimed by a series of small cardboard papers on which several characters had been drawn in pencil or charcoal. They looked a bit Tim Burtonish-and a little eerie, too.

"I really like this one", I said as I pointed to a creature that looked like some sort of alien wearing a hat and a scarf.

Amanda looked at the drawing that I was pointing at and stifled a laugh. "I did that one in the middle of the night. I couldn't go to sleep and it was something like 1 am-so I came her and drew it."

I smiled, my eyes still set on the drawings. "All of this looks really amazing", I murmured. "You're a marvelous artist, I'll give you that."

"Thanks", she said. I looked over at her and noticed she was blushing uncontrollably. "Hey, you should probably check out this one", she suddenly said as she walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed a medium-sized canvas that she handed me.

It had been drawn in ink. I looked closely at it, realising that it was some sort of nebula. But it wasn't the usual type of nebula: this one looked like it formed a word. I distanced the canvas from my eyes and looked at it again, this time recognizing the name of my band-Muse.

"It's a poster I started a while ago", Amanda quickly explained. "I wanted to write your band name using the concept of a nebula, y'know... dust and stars and colors. But it's not done yet. I only drew the stars. I need to add the color."

"Woah", I simply said. "Well I don't care if it's not done yet... it already looks amazing. How much time did it take you to draw all those tiny-weeny, microscopic stars?"

Amanda closed her eyes for a moment. "Something like three hours", she finally said as she re-opened them. "I just like adding a lot of detail."

I handed her the canvas back, which she propped against a wall. I suddenly noticed something new about the room: near the door hung a red and black clock. I looked at the time: 11:37. I suddenly remembered I was supposed to meet Dominic and Chris today, around 12:30.

_Shit._

"Erm, Amanda?", I said. She had been looking outside through the window, but now she turned around and looked me in the eye. "I've gotta get going. My bandmates are supposed to meet me real soon."

"Oh, that's fine.", she said as she showed me the way out of the room and to the door, which she opened for me.

"Thank you", I said, "For the tea. And for showing me your remarkable work." I smiled, suddenly remembering something. "Hey, I'm throwing a party this Wednesday at our studio. We're basically gonna play a few songs and then just fool around, y'know..."

I saw her eyes light up at the mention of 'songs'. "Sure", she said. "I'd like to come... can I bring a friend?"

"Bring as many as you want", I answered, a large smile plastered on my lips. "The more the merrier!"

I suddenly realised that she didn't have my phone number, and vice-versa, and I froze. "Hey, I should probably give you my phone number, then... or you give me yours?"

"How about we do both?", she said as she pulled the Nokia cellphone out of her short's back pocket. "Let's exchange them."

After a couple of minutes, our phone numbers had been exchanged. I gave her one last smile and took the stairs this time, all the way down to the lobby.

_**Later**____**on**_

Amanda's P.O.V.

My fists were clenched around the hem of my blanket when I opened my eyes. Greeted by absolute darkness, I breathed in some air, being out of any. As my eyes finally adjusted to the dark, I took in my surroundings: I was in my room, in my bed. My window was open and a menacing gale was coming in. I grumbled when I saw that it was four o'clock in the morning, being perfectly aware that going back to sleep was now impossible for me.

Suddenly, the room was illuminated. I snapped my eyes shut and instinctively brought my left hand to them, unable to bear the overwhelming light. What the hell is going on?

_Don't shed your eyes, Amanda. I'm not going to do any harm to you._

I slowly put my hand down and very carefully opened my eyes, trying to adjust them to the brightness. When they were finally open and able to see, I gasped at the sight before them: the old lady from the antiques shop was standing in front of me. It was her who illuminated the room. She was now in the shape of some sort of... spirit. And for the first time, she was smiling warmly at me.

"What... how... just when... "

_Relax. I'm here to help you._

"What are you?", I finally managed to pronounce properly.

_Well, my job on Earth was done, so I moved into another dimension. When fairy tale characters die, they go to a very specific place._

"So now you're in some kind of fairy tale heaven...?", I said, dumbstruck.

She laughed quietly._ Yes, I guess so._

"Then why am I able to see you?"

_Because you're dreaming. And I managed to introduce myself into your dream so I can help you, as I see that you're a little... confused. Do you still not believe me?_

I froze for a while, pondering on her words. First of all, never would I have thought this was a dream... everything felt so real. The light, the darkness, the wind coming in through the window...

Then, I admitted being confused... but believing her? It still sounded a little strange and perfectly unbelievable. But still, I wasn't sure if my dad's decision to remarry was a coincidence. Plus, I still hadn't found my prince or anything like it...

"I don't know.", I finally said.

_Really? After witnessing your dad's decision to marry that woman and adopt her two daughters and meeting your prince?_

I frowned at her mention of 'the prince'. "What prince? I didn't meet any."

She stiffed a laugh and shook her head from side to side. _You really are something, Amanda. What about that young man who is very visibly falling for you?_

I rose an eyebrow, throwing her a questioning glance.

_Matthew._

"Matthew?", I gasped as I felt my heart beat twice as fast as before.

_See? Just the name produces a very strong reaction... and I should think it's the same for him._

"But what makes you think that it's him?"

This time, the old lady rolled her eyes. _You were at a party and you met him of all guys. Isn't it obvious?_

I nodded, acknowledging her explanation. "But there's still something that puzzles me", I said. "I thought I was supposed to have some kind of fairy godmother?"

_You have one, too._

I frowned, unable to think about anyone that could fill that position.

_Your friend, Erica. She may not be as old as the original fairy godmother... but she's still in her shoes. She helped you get to the party, and no matter what she's here to support you._

"Ooohhh... I see."

_Any other questions before I go?_

I looked down, then I redirected my gaze at her. "Will you come back?"

_Whenever I get the feeling you need me. I'll appear in one of your dreams._

I nodded in agreement. "Thank you. Hey, by the way... you never told me your name."

_Red Riding Hood._

"No, not the name of your character... your real name. The name you had before you became Red Riding Hood."

She glared at the floor, looking a little bit ashamed or sad, or both. _I don't remember it. No one called me by my real name for years in a row. So I became Red Hood._ She looked me in the eye. _I guess you could call me Red._

I nodded again as I watched her turn around, ready to leave. "Hey, erm... Red?"

_Yes?_

"You still didn't tell me how come you're able to read minds."

She turned around to face me and a smile crossed her lips, even though sadness was obvious in her eyes. _That's a secret I'm not sure I can tell you._

And with that, she vanished. All the light disappeared along with her, leaving place to a darkness that seemed to be even more accentuated than before. And then I opened my eyes, finding myself exactly where I expected I'll be-in my large, comfy bed. I blinked a couple of times and finally managed to look at my digital clock, which read 5:53.

I frowned at the sight. Strange how, at this time, the sun still wasn't rising on the horizon. I suddenly understood why when the same rough gale that I had witnessed in my dream blew into my room through my window, washing over my entire body and making goosebumps rise on my skin from head to toe. I managed to get off my bed and on my feet and go to the window. Outside, the sky was overcast with enormous clouds that announced nothing but a storm.

"Only in London", I muttered to myself as I rolled my eyes.

The wind blew even more, as though it was insulted by what I had said. It felt like a whip to my bare legs, so I just closed the window and went back into my bed.

Suddenly, my mobile phone vibrated and I picked it up. One new text message. I opened the envelope and looked at the name: Matthew.

_Are you sleeping?_

I smiled to myself, my fingers working on the small keyboard almost without my brain.

_No. The wind woke me up._

My phone vibrated only seconds after I had sent my message. Wow, he's a fast typer.

_Me too. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I texted you... you know, so I would get the feeling that I'm asleep._

I rolled my eyes as I typed my next message. _Why? Because I'm so darn boring?_

My phone vibrated once more, but this time the message that I had received was accompanied by a loud gasp and a furious blush on my side.

_No. Because you're like a heavenly dream._

I dropped my phone and rolled on my side, giggling like an idiot and rolling around on my bed like a happy kitten. That was one of the best (and cheesiest!) pick-up lines I had ever heard. I picked my phone again and I was going to type my reply when suddenly my brain blocked my fingers. Thousands of images invaded my mind, all of them concerning one precise person: Keith.

Keith had been my boyfriend for five years. He was tall, and very handsome: blonde hair, green eyes, long eyelashes. We had met at school when I was 15 and he was 17 and we had been dating ever since. My brain kept sending me images of him: laughs, hugs, kisses, the way he'd come and hug me from behind whenever I was upset. The way I could tell him anything and he'd always understand me.

I suddenly recalled what undoubtedly was the climax of our relationship: they day I had turned eighteen and he'd proposed to me. I had been so happy to become his fiancée. It was one step further to spending the rest of my life with him. And the ring... small and very delicate, golden with a small emerald that matched his eyes, "So I would remember him every time I looked down at my hands", he'd said.

But as I had expected, my brain was very careful to also make me remember the day things ended. It had been almost two years after his proposal. I was in the shopping mall, with Erica, when I suddenly saw a familiar blonde head in a shop. I immediately recognized Keith and decided I'll go to him and surprise him.

And I did surprise him indeed. With a tall, tanned brunette who was kissing him like her life depended on it, and he was kissing her back without any hesitation. My face turned red in both shame and anger, and I had to make a monumental effort to be able to abstain from killing them both on the spot.

"Keith", I had hissed, "What is going on?"

Two mortified gasps had shortly followed and Keith's head snapped around, immediately finding my eyes.

"I... I'm... I just..." he had pushed her aback, making her slam into a rack full of shoes. "Amanda... let me explain..."

But what was there to explain? I was so angry, so outraged, that I didn't even want to give him any second chance. Not now, nor ever. "Not. Let _me_ explain, please." With two fingers, I grabbed my ring and threw it at his feet. "I don't need you, or this ring, anymore. You have to be a real jerk to propose to your faithful girlfriend of five years and then _cheat_ on her with some slutty one night stand."

I had walked away. I don't really remember what happened next. He came to apologize later that day. My dad opened the door for him. He went to my room. I was at my desk. He sat down on my bed and said that he wasn't thinking about his actions and I had shot him a decisive "I don't care" and told him that I never, ever wanted to hear about him again. Then, two months later, I moved to my flat. He was one of the many reasons I had moved, too.

Now, back to Matt and his text. My fingers unfroze and I typed a message. But it wasn't the flirty, playful reply I was going to type moments before.

_Matt, I don't know if this is how you act with girls most of the time but... just in case you're trying to flirt with me: I don't think I'm ready for a relationship right now. I'm really sorry._

I put my cellphone aside and buried my face in my hands. I was a coward. Just because Keith had broken my heart didn't mean all the other guys would do it.

But I still couldn't afford risking that kind of pain again.


	10. Chapter 10

Matt's P.O.V.

I picked up my cellphone when I heard it beep and a smile spread on my face as I awaited the

message to load up. That's it. She's gonna send a cute, playful reply... oh please let it be like

that. That would mean she's interested.

But the message before my eyes wasn't flirty at all. It was emanating seriousness. I frowned at

the words before my eyes.

_Matt, I don't know if this is how you act with girls most of the time but... just in case you're trying _

_to flirt with me: I don't think I'm ready for a relationship right now. I'm really sorry._

I stared blankly ahead. This was the second time she was doing something like this. Acting

interested only to reject me moments later. I sighed deeply and typed a reply.

_I'm sorry too, for being too forward. Just curious: why aren't you ready for a relationship? How old _

_are you?_

I realised that my message was a little inappropriate, too interrogative and bossy only after I

pressed 'send'. Why would it concern me anyway? My phone beeped and I looked at the

message:

_I'm not comfortable talking about it. Sorry about that, too. I need to go. I'll call you one of these _

_days to talk about Wednesday. Bye._

_P.S.: I'm 21._

I turned off my phone and slammed it on my desk. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hate myself

or to hate her, but then again, I realised that I couldn't hate her. It was impossible. Besides, what

reason did I have? Why would I hate Amanda? She just wasn't ready. For some reason, she

didn't want to. I didn't have to be mad at her for that. It was her private life, her choice.

After a while, my phone beeped again and I answered it with the burning desire that it would be

Amanda. But it was Dom. I sighed out of deception and decided to open his message.

Are you coming to the studio today?

I stared at the message while I tried processing the question. I didn't feel like it. I felt sore and

tired, having been up all night daydreaming about... things. Okay, daydreaming about Amanda.

But other things crossed my mind too. From time to time.

I fiddled with my phone for a couple of minutes before I texted him back.

_Yeah, sure. See you today in the studio, 11:00._

I turned off my phone and carelessly threw it next to me on my bed. If I wanted to go have some

actual practice, I needed to sleep for at least a couple of hours. It wouldn't take me too long to get

there, even by foot, and I didn't need to spend too much time in the bathroom. A shower and

some old clothes will do. I closed my eyes and immediately fell asleep, too tired to even bother

about other things anymore.

Amanda's P.O.V.

I opened the door to a very happy Erica. Her smile was wider than ever. Without even saying 'Hi',

she walked past me and into the flat, straight into the kitchen. She sat down on one of the bar

stools and looked me right in the eyes.

We stared at each other for a moment. Neither of us was sure of what to say to break the ice, I

guess. But in the end, Erica spoke up, unable to hold her questions anymore.

"So?", she asked, burning curiosity very noticeable in her voice.

"So what?", I asked back, like I didn't know what she was talking about.

"Don't fool me, Snow-White", Erica said as she shook an accusing finger in front of my eyes. "I

saw."

I turned around and looked her in the eye again. "Saw what?"

Erica looked at me and frowned. "You. And the frontman of our favorite band. And then you

disappeared." She threw me a cocky smile. "What did you do, exactly?"

"We walked for a moment and then I..."

I suddenly stopped neatly in my sentence. I didn't have the guts to tell Erica about what I had

done. I must confess, I do think I acted like a coward. And I was ashamed of it. I looked over at

my best friend, who glanced at me confusedly. Best friend. Best friends are supposed to support

you about these kinds of things, don't they? And Erica had been filling in her duties for years. We

knew each other ever since we were little kids.

"... I freaked out and ran away."

Erica opened her mouth, looking visibly deceived, surprised and mad, all at the same time. Then,

noticing the look of pure regret that I had on my face and the tears that were starting to fill my

eyes, she simply got up and gave me a tight hug. Unable to take it anymore, I burst into tears,

my face buried into her hoodie and my arms clenched around her waist.

"Don't cry", she said, almost begging me not to. "Just tell me what happened afterward and

maybe I can help."

I started crying even harder, thinking about the texting session that had occurred earlier. By now,

he might've already given up on me. God damn it Amanda, he was a fucking rockstar. I couldn't

even imagine how many options he had right now. Maybe at this very moment he was in bed with

another girl.

That was the problem. Even though _he_ surely didn't have any emotional attachment to _me_, _I_ was

starting to be attached. I had been for a long time, because I had been a fan of his music ever

since their first album, and now that I had met him in real life, I was pretty sure I had a major

crush on him. All I was afraid of was getting hurt, like I had been with Keith.

I slowly rubbed the tears out of my eyes and tried to breathe deeply. Erica was patting my back

in an awkward way, not sure what to do. She visibly wanted to ask questions, but didn't want to

disturb me even more at the same time. Suddenly, knowing that was exactly what she was

thinking about, I burst out laughing.

"What now?"

I wanted to answer her question, but her confused face made me laugh even more. "I'm just

happy you're my friend and you're here to help me", I finally managed.

She smiled. "So... can you tell me what happened afterward?", she inquired, a little hesitantly.

"I, erm... I had forgotten my purse at the guy's house and he found it and brought it back to me.

He was here just yesterday. Actually gave me his phone number and invited me to a party on

Wednesday. I said I'll come with you."

"_What!?_", she yelled as she jumped off her bar stool. "He was here, he invited you to a party, and

you are crying? Amanda, what the hell?"

I looked down, once again ashamed of my actions and not really willing to tell Erica about them.

"Did you two get busy or something?"

My head shot straight upward, an outraged expression on my face. "_No!_", I said. "Why would you

ask such a thing?"

"Well I don't know... he was here... you were alone..." she nonchalantly looked around the room.

"You've got a pretty big bed and..."

"We did _not_", I shot, cutting her off.

I crossed my legs and my arms, looking down at my feet. Erica eventually sat back down on her

bar stool and entwined her fingers together, waiting for me to speak.

"He texted me last night", I finally confessed. "He sent me a really flirty message about how he's

texting me because he can't sleep and I'm like a dream and I give him the sensation he's

asleep... something like that." I started playing with the hem of my shirt, still looking down. "And I

texted back saying that, just in case he wanted us to be... you know, a couple... I told him I

wasn't ready for a relationship."

I finally looked up at Erica as I pronounced the word 'relationship', and the first thing my eyes fell

upon was her dropped jaw, then the look of confusion in her eyes and her furrowed brows. She

closed her mouth and opened it again, trying to find something to say.

"Amanda... in all sincerity, why are you doing this to yourself, and to him?"

"Because, Erica!", I burst out as I jumped off my stool, tears once again filling my eyes.

"Because, I thought about it! Remember Keith? We were engaged and he fucking cheated on me!

Imagine the how faithful he can get! He's a rockstar! He'll be traveling, constantly meeting

women, and fucking all of them! I barely know him! How can I find out whether he's sincere or

not?"

I sat back down, clamping my head in my hands and looking her in the eye. "I'm just afraid of

getting hurt", I murmured. I wasn't sure whether she had heard me or not, but I deduced that she

had, and that she understood, by the way she nodded approvingly.

"Wait, though. He invited you to a party. Are you going, after all?"

I stared blankly ahead, thinking about it. It would be a good way to get to know him better, but I

was afraid he'd try to get to me once again. But after all, I had told him I didn't want a relationship,

didn't I? I suddenly smiled and picked up my phone.

"I am", I said as I opened my contacts list and selected his number. "And you're coming."

Matt's P.O.V.

The thing that I hated the most about our rented studio is that, in the summer, it can get as hot

as an oven. And today was one of those days. I was sprawled on the couch, drinking from a

bottle of beer than wasn't even cold anymore. Dom was sitting in a corner reading a magazine

and Chris was jamming on his bass, trying to put a couple of chords together.

It was almost ironic, how motivated we were this morning when we came in to work, write new

songs, and how tired and lazy we were feeling right now. In fact, I was pretty sure this was all my

fault. Dom had been trying to get to me ever since I came in. He had asked a million questions.

Chris even teased me, suggesting I was troubled because I couldn't remember how many girls I

had fucked last night, but he had immediately stopped giggling when I had shot him an annoyed

glare.

I hadn't been fucking with anyone. Someone had been fucking with _me_. With my mind, most

precisely. And right now, I was mentally debating on whether I should or should not give up on

her. In fact, I had been so busy thinking about it that I ended up drinking beer on the couch, and

Dom and Chris ended up at their actual places, waiting for me to get up and say something. They

didn't want to work by themselves because we never did that. We always wrote our songs together.

_Damn you, Matthew. You're ruining precious song writing time because of your messy, _

_unpredictable hell of a love life._

I dropped my bottle of beer to the ground, listening as it clattered against the wooden floor. Why

do we stay here, anyways? We're not doing anything. Might as well go back home instead of

wasting everyone's time, and crying by myself.

But I was suddenly torn away from that thought and I raised my head in attention. Chris and Dom

looked at me in a startled way. I raised my hand and pointed a finger at Chris.

"Do that again", I demanded.

Chris carefully repeated the bassline he had done seconds ago.

I stared into the void, trying to process the sound of that bassline. "Again. Repeatedly."

Chris started it again, and repeated it for about twenty times before I finally made him stop and

picked up my guitar. I started playing a riff I had improvised the night before. _Naah. Too heavy_. I

tried it again, on higher notes this time. I looked over at Chris once more, then back at my guitar.

"Start over, and play it repeatedly like you did before. I wanna try something."

He started playing it again, and after a while I jumped in with my riff. It fitted perfectly.

After a couple of minutes, Dom let go of his magazine and sat down at his drum kit, drumming

until he found the perfect beat for the song. Finally, after something like two hours... we had

exactly what I wanted. It sounded just right. Loud, aggressive, but just right.

"So what do we do with this?", Dom asked after a while. We were just walking around the room,

putting everything into place. "Do we keep it or... was it just a jam?"

"Are you kidding?", I shot as I almost dropped an expensive Fender guitar. "Just a jam? Am I ever

that serious about "just a jam"?"

Dom raised his arms before letting them drop by his sides. "You haven't been _that_ serious lately.

In fact, ever since you met that girl... can't really remember her name right now... anyway, she really

fucked you up, mate."

"Oh, a girl!", Chris suddenly called from the other end of the studio. "So that's why Matthew's

been so gloomy lately! He's in loooooove!"

"Oh shut up", I hissed. Although the idea of loving her sounded stupid (especially coming from

Chris' mouth), I found myself smiling.

"Look, you're smiling!", Chris laughed as he pointed to me. "The guy's in love!"

"Chris, this isn't funny at all." It was now Dom's turn to scold his sense of humor, and he wasn't

smiling at all. "That's girl he's met doesn't sound like a good idea at all."

Chris looked over at me and smiled, not even bothering to reply to Dominic. I smiled back,

although much more weakly and with a little sadness in my eyes. Before any more questions

escaped their mouths, I picked up my things and announced I'll be heading home.

As I stepped out of the studio and into the bright afternoon sun and warm weather, I took my

cellphone out of my pocket. I had one message.

_Hi, Matt. About the party on Wednesday, where and what time?_

I was about to close my cellphone and put it back in my pocket when I suddenly saw the name of

the sender. That one name almost caused me a heart attack. A-m-a-n-d-a. Amaaaandaaa.

_The studio, 7:30. I'll send you the address tonight._

Suddenly, as I put my phone back in my pocket, I had an idea. I was going to add one more song

to the party's setlist.

And hopefully, that one song would make her understand my intentions much better.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the wait guys, I just had tons of school work. I don't understand anything the math teacher says and I have to catch up on my own & other shit. Always remember you can have bonus information about the story's progress on my main profile page. u/4503212/TheOriginOfBliss  
**

Erica sighted loudly as she rolled over on my sofa. She released another "Can we go now?" as she sat up, looking straight at me.

I was readjusting the straps of my top and didn't hear her at first, but when she came right next to me and yelled another "Can we go now?" right in my ear, I had to give her attention.

"No", I uttered. "Look, Erica, maybe you can go ahead of me and wait there."

Erica let herself plummet to the ground and rolled her eyes. "If I do that, I'll be sure to wait for you until fucking midnight or something. Why are you so cautious about your outfit, anyway?"

"Because there's gonna be people and people are going to look at me", I answered in a mocking way.

"You don't care about people, usually. This time, you care about something else." She sat down on the wooden floor and winked at me. "I don't think he's going to stare at your outfit and judge it, Amanda. Put on something simple and let's go."

I looked at her, and then glanced in the mirror at the puffy white tank top and tight white skirt I was currently wearing. Erica was right: it was too much. I just walked into that party looking like this and it would be obvious that I'm secretly trying to impress someone. In fact, I had decided I won't even try to impress him. I had to wait and fully recover from my previous heartache before starting any new relationship. I had to think, and get to know him better.

"You're right", I said as I almost ripped off my clothes, remaining in my lacy underwear within seconds. "To hell with looking fancy and classy and whatever." I grabbed my old light blue jeans and a large Beatles t-shirt, completing the look with the Converse sneakers I usually wore to concerts.

"There's the good old Amanda", Erica grunted, still lying on the floor. She slowly got up and brushed some

imaginary dust off her black jeans. "Let's get out of here."

"Wait!", I almost yelled on a panicked tone. "What about makeup?"

Erica brought her hands to her red hair, letting me know that she was perfectly ready to rip it off. She was just going to yell my name when I raised a conciliating hand and laughed. "Kidding. Let's go."

The studio wasn't too far from my home. In fact, it was right next to an old art gallery where I had once exposed a series of paintings about nature. I remember it alright. It was a sunny morning, and I had somehow managed to carry all 20 paintings by myself. It was a relief that I had done them on small canvases.

The street had come alive with the sounds of music coming out of nightclubs and car drivers eager to get back home from their evening shifts. The sidewalks were crowded, mainly with people my age or maybe just a little older. When we finally arrived at the studio, the crowd at the front door was so big that I had to grab Erica's hand to avoid getting lost.

When we finally managed to get inside, I realised how slow I had been. The guys were getting ready to take the

stage, and the crowd inside was so big that it was impossible to get anywhere near the stage. Erica and I found a place at the back of the room.

I looked onstage, trying to find Matt. When his head finally popped up from behind an amplifier, I tried making eye contact with him, but it was impossible. I was at the far back of the room, and I was short. Plus, right now, I was ready to bet that everyone in the room was trying to make eye contact with the frontman. I didn't stand a chance.

Erica was right. I should've hurried up.

Suddenly, I noticed Matt was looking for someone as well. I blushed a little when the thought that I might be the one he's searching crossed my mind, but I didn't try to grab his attention. If I made a sign and it turned out I wasn't the one he's looking for, it would be just plain awkward.

He finally resigned and turned around, facing Dom. They exchanged a couple of words, and then Matt quickly

introduced the band and started playing the riff to Plug in Baby.

Usually, I would've jumped with the crowd. Besides, this was one of my favorite songs off Origin of Symmetry. But we were right at the back, and my stomach was starting to ache for some reason. I groaned as I hit the table

behind me and sat down on it. Erica immediately sat down next to me, just as if she were experiencing the same need to disappear underground and never resurface.

I started questioning myself on what Matt might tell me if we talked tonight. I had seen him twice, and I already

understood who he really was. He wasn't the shy guy on camera. Well, sometimes he did act like the shy guy on

camera, but there was another side of him that the medias and the music channels and the interviewers had failed to show the world. He was also a determined man who didn't give up.

Twice, I had acted like I didn't want to engage in anything. And yet, I was sure that he'd still go after me tonight. I

could bet on anything that he'd slip a flirty message into our conversation, or maybe even check out if I'm up for a kiss.

And suddenly, at the mention of the world "kiss", I started wondering how it would feel like to kiss him. First off, it

would be weird to kiss the frontman of my favorite band. It's the same feeling as hearing from your teachers about an amazing student, and then meeting that one student in person as you walk down the school halls. It's like bumping into some kind of god. So many people have told you about how special and unique he is, and suddenly you've got him standing in front of you, and you're in awe because you think, "This is the guy everyone talks about." And you start feeling intimidated by him because you get the impression he's superior.

It's the same thing with Matt. When I met him at that party, I felt exactly like that. I had, standing right before me,

the guitar god, the piano master, the frontman of my favorite band. When he started flirting with me, I felt like God himself had descended from Heaven to propose to me.

I slipped away from my train of thoughts when Erica poked me in the side with her elbow. I looked at her,

questioning her actions. She simply pointed to a gap at the side of the crowd, and nodded her head in the stage's direction. She was asking me to go with her nearer the front of the stage. Before I could even say no to her, before I could tell her that I was trying to think, she grabbed my hand and started walking.

I didn't say anything, though. She would've never had heard me over the music. Plus, this was my only chance of making eye contact with Matt and showing him that I'm here, that I've accepted his invitation, that I hadn't given up on our... friendship. If that's what it was.

Once we reached the front of the stage, though, I didn't try to make him look at me. I just stayed calmly on the side as they started their second song of their set, which was Citizen Erased. But after a brief moment, Matt started scanning the crowd again. I shrunk to the side of the stage, not wishing to get noticed by his burning gaze, but he was quicker. His eyes met mine in a second and I felt a lightning bolt jolt throughout my entire body, electrifying every part of me. His lips formed a smile and I forced myself to smile back.

Once his eyes trailed off of me and on the strings of his guitar again, though, I quickly drew back. One look had

been enough to make me unstable. I already felt a million butterflies swarming inside of me, taking over my

stomach. I stepped back with a grunt, hitting the brick wall behind me, and I stayed glued to that wall for the rest of the song.

The crowd erupted with cheers as Matt hit the last chord of the song, and I sketched a quick smile when he looked over at me. He slowly approached the microphone and cupped it with both his hands, visibly wanting to say something. He opened his mouth, and closed it. The crowd slowly got a little more silent. Matt looked over at Chris and I heard a muffled "I can't do this".

Chris rolled his eyes, looking exasperated. I frowned a little, trying to remember the last time I had seen the band's bassist look like that. Usually, he was overly patient. After a moment, he walked over to Matt, snatched the microphone away from him and spoke for the crowd:

"So we were supposed to do Dark Shines, but Matt had a last moment decision because he's nuts over a girl that's standing in the crowd as we speak", Chris muttered. "I'm sure everyone here will recognize the song."

Matt blushed to the root of his hair and looked utterly mortified. Chris just walked away to his side of the stage.

Erica looked at me in confusion. I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment. After what seemed like an eternity,

Matt finally hit the first chord of the song in a very awkward way.

I suddenly felt bad as everyone around me "Aaah'ed" and "Oooh'ed", instantly recognizing the song. I had never

heard it before. It sounded simple, sweet, melodic... I waited for the words, hoping that I'd guess the song before it ended.

Matt finally walked over to the microphone, looking at a distant point in the crowd. I suddenly felt my heart rise and get stuck in my throat. He was looking at someone. His face was bright red and his eyes were shiny and he was looking at someone... other than me. I felt a pang of jealousy but had to hold it back. Of course, he was. How in the world did I ever dare to hope that a guy like him would ever be attracted to a girl like me? I felt my face grow hot once again as I heard the first words of the song escape from his lips:

_Babe, tomorrow's so far away_

_There's something I just have to say_

_I don't think I can hide what I'm feelin' inside_

_Another day, knowin' I love you_

_And I, I'm getting too close again_

_I don't want to see it end_

_If I tell you tonight will you turn out the light_

_And walk away knowin' I love you?_

Oh, so he actually loved her. Well, good for her. It must feel amazing. I wiped a single, lonely tear away from my left eye as I took a couple of clumsy backwards steps, but I suddenly froze into place as I heard the guitar get louder and the first words of the chorus:

I'm gonna take you by surprise and make you realize,

I turned around and faced him, eager to hear what the chorus held for this mysterious beautiful girl in the crowd that he loved so much. Just so I know. But as I heard the next word come out of his mouth, my jaw dropped and my hands flew to my mouth.

Did he just sing my name? I must've heard him wrong. I kept looking at the stage, listening for the rest of the

chorus.

_I'm gonna tell you right away, I can't wait another day,_

_Amanda_

Fuck me. He said Amanda.

_I'm gonna say it like a man and make you understand_

_Amanda_

There was a short pause, and the whole thing almost felt like slow motion. His hand gingerly grazed the strings,

and his gaze was drawn upon me as he sang a quiet "I love you".

He frowned for a moment and took in every detail as he kept singing,

_And I feel like today's the day_ (while he took in my gaping mouth)

_I'm lookin' for the words to say_ (while he looked at my hand, which was now resting somewhere on my left shoulder)

_Do you wanna be free, are you ready for me_ (at this point he was smiling)

_To feel this way_

_I don't wanna lose you_

He drew back from the microphone and looked at me.

_So, it may be too soon, I know_

_The feeling takes so long to grow_

_If I tell you today will you turn me away_

_And let me go?_

_I don't wanna lose you_

He started playing a guitar solo that sounded like the chorus, and I wanted to listen to it, but I couldn't. My knees grew weaker and I felt like fainting. I rubbed my forehead with my left hand, trying to prevent it from happening, and tried to find the bathroom as quickly as I could. When the plain, black lady sign came before my eyes, I gladly ran for it and pushed the door. I found a free cabin and locked myself inside as I tried to breathe in and out.

I had fainted before, and I wasn't too eager to repeat the experience. It had been many years ago, when I had to

briefly introduce a play that a group of students from my school had set up. I got on stage, and before I could even start my speech I freaked out at the enormous amount of people standing there, before me, and fainted without a word. Obviously, my classmates were mad at me and the meaner ones even called me "the fainter" for a couple of months.

But for now, my previous experiences weren't important. I had to find out the meaning behind what had happened out there, on the dancefloor. Up until now, I had thought Matt just wanted to get laid. But there was a stronger meaning behind the lyrics of that song.

I noticed the music had stopped. By now, he was surely offstage, looking everywhere for me, asking himself how

and when and where I had disappeared. I couldn't go out there yet, though. Not while I was sure I'd faint again.

I suddenly heard someone come into the washroom. Two girls for sure, because I had only heard two voices. I

frowned a little, trying to remember where I had hear them before.

"Do you honestly think he was referring to her?", one of them said on an almost outraged tone.

"Well, they were together last time we met!", the other voice snapped.

"Yeah, but he can't possibly like a girl like her!", the first voice argued.

"Well, I don't think so either, but still... it's possible, you know!"

There was a short silence, and one of the girls sighed deeply before talking again:

"Then what the fuck does he see in Amanda?", the first voice asked.

My eyes widened as I finally recognized the voice and I had to clamp my hands over my mouth to avoid gasping in surprise. It was Jane's! And the other voice belonged undoubtedly to Kathy! What business did they have following me around like that? Okay, they could've been at the other party because they knew people in town who had invited them, but what the fuck were they doing at this concert, given the fact that they didn't even like Muse?

I briefly put an end to my thoughts when Kathy's voice finally answered Jane. "I have no idea. She seems to be

pretty daft, at least from my point of view."

"And short. And she only listens to boring music. I mean, who likes the Smiths anymore?"

"I don't know", Kathy said. "Maybe he does."

A few giggled were exchanged, and the bathroom door was slammed.

I cautiously opened the cabin door, poking my head outside. They were gone. I smiled to myself thinking about the way they saw me, the way they thought I was. Daft? I had gotten that before. Short? It was a reality I had learned to accept. Boring music? Those were the exact words people used to describe the music that was too complex for them to understand and like.

I quickly fixed my hair in the mirror, pushing away their words. If they thought they had me cornered with their

supposedly hurtful insults, they were pretty much wrong. I confidently got back on the dance floor, ready to go talk to Matt. I could do it. Go talk to him, ask about what the whole song thing meant. I walked towards the front of the stage, sure that I'd find him there, when a strong hand gripped my shoulder.

I turned around, wondering who it might be, and felt my face grow hot, then cold, then hot again, as I noticed the

most striking feature that the person's face bore.

A pair of electric blue eyes, starting at me with the happiest expression they had to offer.

**(For those wondering, the song is 'Amanda' by Boston.)**


	12. Chapter 12

I swallowed once or twice, feeling my throat shrink with every step I took as he led me out of the crowd, his hand strongly gripping mine like he was afraid he'd lose me. I followed behind him numbly, like my legs weren't really there, taking each step carefully, trying not to trip, making considerable efforts to avoid bumping into other people. Finally, I saw the wall opposite to the stage and understood where we were headed when I saw the huge red letters that read "Lift". I made another effort, this time to step inside, before Matt pressed a button with a glossy black "8" imprinted on it and the lift shot upwards like a rocket.

I felt my stomach rise and then fall back into its place abruptly when the lift doors opened to welcome a (very) drunk and (very) noisy and probably (extremely) horny couple who were biting off each other's faces every 0,5 seconds. I tried to look away from both them and Matt, being embarrassed and all, but it ended soon enough, when the doors opened with a "ding" and Matt gripped my hand and dragged me out of the lift and into a hallway.

We made a few steps before he stopped in front of a door, which he unlocked and held open for me. I blushed at the gesture and gingerly stepped inside.

The room was dark, but when Matt flicked the lights on a classy room appeared before my eyes. It looked like a lounge (except it had a bed) and the huge windows unraveled a panorama of Downtown London which was pretty wicked.

"It's my other apartment", Matt said softly behind me. "I rented it to be closer to the studio."

I turned around, taking in his face. His blue eyes shone like the ocean water glitters under the rising sun, his cheeks were red, and his black hair was messy and fluffy-looking.

And God oh God, he smelled like axe, pine needles and hot chocolate.

He walked towards the huge sliding windows and opened one of them, revealing a large balcony. A gust of wind blew into the flat and I considered telling him I'd rather stay inside, but I still couldn't refuse to get out there. The view was amazing, and I was a sucker for landscapes.

Once outside, thought, I instantly started regretting my decision. My legs were warm enough, but the night wind was chilly enough to freeze my arms(please note that, although it was the middle of summer, we were in London and the weather there isn't _that _warm).

On the other hand, Matt didn't even seem to care. He leaned over the metal railing and ran his hand through his hair a couple of times before breaking the (awkward) silence.

"Are you feeling okay?", he asked, out of the blue.

I looked over at him, a bit puzzled. "Yeah, why?"

"Your friend told me you were in the bathroom when I asked her about you. Mentioned you get stressed easily."

I let out a soft chuckle, instantly picturing Erica say those words. "Yeah, I do. How did you know Erica's my friend?"

He snorted. "I saw you together. I'm smart enough to figure it out."

There was another awkward silence. I gingerly stepped closer to him and propped my elbows on the metal railing, thus accidentally touching his upper arm with my elbow. He instantly jolted, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Jesus, Amanda, you're fucking freezing!", he gasped.

I almost laughed at his tone, but decided it would be best not to. "Well, it's pretty cold outside, so…"

"That's not the point!", he argued. "You could've asked me for a jacket", he said as he pushed the door open and stepped back inside.

I poked my head inside the flat, calling after him. "What? No, you don't need to…"

But he was quicker than me. He returned to the balcony, a black sweater in hand, and pulled it over my head before I could even say, "Don't do that, you're gonna mess up my hair!"

I accepted it, though (partly because I was cold, partly because it smelled nice) and tried to put my curly hair back into place as he glanced at me, looking rather amused.

"What's so funny, arsehole?", I inquired, a bit offended by his giggles.

"Oh, nothing. It's just so darn funny to mess up a girl's hair and then watch her as she freaks out over it and tries to put it back into place", he explained nonchalantly.

"Your own hair looks like an un-mowed lawn, so shut up", I replied sarcastically.

He pouted for a moment, and then tilted his head into my direction. "You're right, my hair is worse. 'Wanna try to put it back into place?", he inquired on a playful tone.

"No", I said, but still couldn't help blushing.

He suddenly stopped laughing, and went for a much more serious tone. "Did I freak you out? Make you uncomfortable?"

"Why would you ask that?" I squinted in the dark, trying to see his features, guess what he was thinking about.

"I don't know, maybe because we played 'Amanda' by Boston?", he said, sounding a little bit sarcastic.

_Oooh, so that was the band's name. Boston. Wait, wasn't that the band me and him talked about the first time we ever spoke to each other? When he asked me if I knew the Boston song that bore my name? Oh, well. I finally knew it._

"Well… yeah, I mean… um… I didn't really understand the meaning behind that.", I blurted out. "I mean, you can't be in love with me, so I'm just gonna guess that it was an attempt at flirting?"

"Why couldn't I be in love with you, Amanda?"

I looked down at my feet, a little bit ashamed of my declaration. Who was I to speak of whether he could or could not feel a certain thing? At the same time, the whole thing didn't stand up properly. We had met a few days ago only. And besides, I wasn't the hot-shot every single guy fell for. I was an ordinary girl, with an ordinary look, not too boring but not too interesting or colorful either, not dumb but still not very intelligent, not ugly but not _that _pretty…

I finally looked up at Matt and realised his eyes were still fixed upon my face, still waiting for an answer, which I tried to give without any real success.

Matt took a couple of steps in my direction and I looked down at the bottom metal railing of the balcony, unable to hold his stare. I felt his hands settle down on my shoulders, and he tried to coax me into looking up.

"Amanda… please look at me for a moment", he whispered. His tone was gentle as ever, but I still didn't feel able to hold his stare. He repeated my name again, and I still looked down, until his right hand slid over my left cheek and under my chin, gently pulling it upwards so our eyes could meet.

"Amanda", he repeated, "I know you think you're not special or beautiful or marvellous, but the truth is… just because _you _don't think so doesn't mean _I _can't think it." He took his arms away from my body and crossed them over his chest. "You have a lot of self-esteem issues, and I've deduced many of them just from the way you act or dress. You think you're too short, too curvy probably, and the fact that you're so shy surely comes from issues that you had with people in the past. Am I right or not?"

"Well… there _are_ moments where I really hate myself…" I acknowledged, a bit surprised at his deduction skills.

He propped his elbow on the metal railing and smiled for a couple of seconds, without saying anything. "You might also think I intend to fuck you and dump you when I'm done, don't you?", he suddenly blurted out. "Because I'm a rockstar and that's just what rockstars do?"

"I never said that!", I replied defensively.

"But you thought about it, didn't you?", he asked on a sad tone. "That's the problem, Amanda. This society we live in spent so many years selling magazines about the drunk, drugged, violent, promiscuous rockstar stereotype that when a normal and trustworthy guy like me shows up, girls flee away from him out of fear or getting dumped. If you actually took some time to figure me out, you'd realise I'm not at all like the normal rockstar stereotype. But I guess you don't have any time to listen to me. I'm just gonna sit there my whole life waiting for you, and you're just gonna spend your whole life denying the fact that I have _actual feelings _for you 'cause, _ugh_, let's be honest, rockstars don't know such a thing as _love._"

He abruptly turned around from me, but right before he did I could catch a glimpse of his face. He was visibly sad and pretty broken, and I hated myself for making him feel that way. Suddenly, not being able to bear the tension anymore, I briskly walked towards him and spun him around. Next thing I know, I was clutching on to his muscular chest, gently stroking his back.

"I'm sorry I thought of you like that", I murmured. I felt his body slowly ease out from tension and he snaked his arms around my shoulders, completing the hug.

I don't know how many minutes had passed since I had thrown myself into his arms, but when he gently slid his fingers under my chin to make me look up, I realised I was starting to get sleepy. The warmth coming from his body combined with the rocking back-and-forth motion he had been doing for the past minutes greatly contributed to my nearly dozing off. We stared at each other for a moment, him examining every possible inch of my face while I was struggling to stay awake. And suddenly, without warning, he leant into my face and kissed my lips.

And this time, I did nothing to stop him.

At the beginning, his lips were only caressing mine in a shy, gentle embrace. But after a few moments, I felt his tongue slide over my lips, politely demanding entrance. I didn't oppose any resistance. I slowly opened my mouth as I slid my hands over his chest, causing him to moan a couple of times. Suddenly, as if being unable to contain a certain wave of lust that had overcome him, he slammed me against the building's brick wall, kissing my neck as he slid both his hands under my sweater (well, technically, it was _his _sweater). They wandered a bit, pulling on my tee-shirt from time to time, and then he abruptly pulled them out and back under again, but this time under my shirt.

He moved back to kissing my mouth as his warm hands came in contact with my bare skin, and I snaked my arms around his neck, making my way to his fluffy hair. I ran my hands through his messy black locks as we continued kissing, pausing only from time to time to moan softly onto each other's mouth. We gradually slowed down our kissing, and we found ourselves in the same position as in the beginning: me, clutching on to him with my eyes closed, and him, with his arms around me, rocking ourselves back and forth.

He gently grabbed my butt after a moment and lifted me off the ground. I wrapped my legs around his waist to keep away from falling, and snaked my arms around his neck. I heard the sliding door open, and deduced that he had stepped back inside the apartment, because the air was suddenly warmer and it didn't smell like the outside night air anymore. It smelled more of… cinnamon and pines. With a hint of hot chocolate.

"Amanda", he whispered. "Amanda, if you're so sleepy, you might as well get back home."

I mumbled a "No" and buried my face into his neck. At this point, walking back home would be torture. I was too sleepy to even stand up.

"Amandaaaa", he whined, and I couldn't help but smile at his childish tone.

"God, you're such a kid", I mumbled without moving.

"_I _am a _kid_!?", he asked in a half-outraged tone. "Well then I'd like to know what _you _are, considering the fact that you're sleeping in my arms and decisively refusing to get down on your own feet!"

"I'm tired", I mumbled.

He froze for a moment, and then suddenly pretended to drop me on the floor. For a fraction of a second I believed in the scheme and clutched his neck and shoulders desperately, even letting out a cry of despair. But when I realised I was still safely tucked in his arms and heard him chuckle at my reaction, I felt thoroughly embarrassed.

"That's it", I said as I struggled to escape his embrace. "I get it. I'm going home before you drop me on the floor and send me to the hospital."

"Woah, I never intended to drop you", he argued as he squeezed my waist and bottom with his arms, making it impossible for me to get down on my feet.

"Well, I still need to get home, so _please _let me go?", I whined as I kept trying to flee his arms.

"I'll let you go if…" he paused for a moment, looked around the room, and then back at me with a crooked grin. "I'll let you go home if you kiss me goodnight."

He stretched his head in my direction and closed his eyes. I rolled my eyes, a bit annoyed, but ended up cupping his face in my hands and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He looked satisfied, smiled, and gently put me down.

"G'night", I murmured as I opened the door. I was going to step outside when I heard him call my name. I poked my head back inside the room.

"Can we see each other any time soon?", he inquired as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Um… well, call me tomorrow", I quickly said before shutting the door.

It was only when the cold night air hit my face and woke me up from my sleepy state that I realised I might've done a mistake. But although my conscience was telling me that I was wrong, there was a part of me that tried to convince me I'd been right.


End file.
